A Brutal Quest
by metal-hunter-311
Summary: 200 years after the events of the game, a young man and his best friend tour the continent looking for adventure. Contains Sexual Innuendo, adult themes, violence, drug usage, and language. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

The sun began to creep up from above the horizon. The various creatures that inhabited the world of metal began to wake up and walk around the plains. In Bladehenge, the sunlight slowly worked its way down the massive blade that dominated the center of the village until the entire mighty sword was enveloped in light. People slowly began emerging from their stone houses and huts. In the 200 years since Doviculus had been defeated, the once small town had expanded into the center of human civilization. Over 500 humans now lived there, most of them hunting for a living.

In the center market, citizens were already moving about stalls and shops, haggling and purchasing things. Despite the fact that music wasn't something the people were fighting for anymore, it was still a big part of the culture and lifestyle. Blue jeans and Black T-shirts, some with designs were much of the wardrobe of the population. Leather, studs and spikes were also worn by many and plain black and white, canvas and rubber shoes were very dominant.

There were lots of people getting ready setting up for a large festival. Today was the 200th anniversary of the day the old Ironheade faction had defeated the evil Demons, led by Doviculous. This day was to be celebrated with of course, a huge metal concert and plenty of beer. Today is a day to remember…..

***

"Wake up Thomas! THOMAS! Get up! NOW!"

Tom rolled over in his sheets. _Damn it. _Not wanting to get yelled at more by his mother, he fumbled his way out of the bed and stepped onto the wooden floor of his room.

"I'm up mom!" He yelled from his bed. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he glanced out the window. It was about noon. Lots of people were in the market today, getting ready for the festival. Tom turned back to his room. It was pretty simply outfitted. His bed was close to the ground and outfitted with simple wool covers. There was a nightstand which had an oil lamp and a small dagger, and which contained one of two books Tom owned, a huge leather bound history of the World.

On the other side of the room was a bookshelf. The different shelves held random pieces of things he had found while exploring and hunting, quills, pieces of metal pipe, guitar picks, a drumstick signed by a Zaulia band of musicians who had passed through a few years back. The other book he owned was on the shelf, it was also a huge leather-bound book, containing tablature from many a metal song, with about a hundred blank pages left, to write new songs in. On another wall hung Tom's electric guitar and his sword. His guitar was his most prized possession. It had been given to him on his sixteenth birthday, although it wasn't his first guitar. His old acoustic guitar, which he had been playing since he was barely four years old, he had given to his little brother Jeffery. His new guitar was a piece of work, it must have cost his mother a lot of money. It was a beautiful sunburst color, with the best strings that could be woven, and made from the finest wood in the land. On the top of the fretboard was the loopy signature of the man who had crafted it. Gibson.

Tom slipped into some jeans and one of his many T-shirts, this one his Tour of Destruction T-shirt an old roadie had given to him. He also put some spike wristbands on and his Leather belt, with a large metal Iron Cross buckle. He then walked downstairs.

"Good morning Tom," His mother said. "There is still some food on the table. When you are done I think Joseph wanted you to go see him."

"Thanks mom." Tom said as he sat down and started piling sausage and egg on his plate. He wondered what Joseph wanted. His dad wasn't letting Joseph out of the house right now, because he had gotten in trouble a couple weeks ago. Tom wasn't sure exactly why Joseph was grounded, but was pretty sure it had to do with the copious amounts of weed he had been secretly growing in his closet. His dad had been pissed that Joseph had been doing it in secret and not sharing the love with the rest of the family. Tom had never gotten into smoking, unlike about every other person in Bladehenge. Sure, he'd take a few hits when he was hanging out with his buddies, but he never bothered growing his own or buying any. He had spent his money on other things, like his family and musical passions.

Upon finishing his breakfast, he set his plate down in the washing basin and put on his leather vest and aviator sunglasses. He yelled a goodbye to his mom before shutting the door and walking out into the streets. The sun was bright and the air was warm. Today was a good day for an outdoor rock festival. Tom began walking down to Joseph's family's hut. As he walked along the road he noticed that his people had slowly evolved over the years. His forefathers had all been hunched slightly, with huge necks and thick skulls, from working in old General Lionwhyte's caves centuries back. Now, mostly everyone was straight-backed and looked, for the most part, normal. Only the old-timers (well they called themselves headbangers) looked odd and hunchbacked now.

"Tom! Wait up!" Tom spun around. There was a skinny guy with a brown leather trenchcoat there. He had long black hair, and a handlebar mustache. He was wearing a headset. He was Edmund, the head of Bladehenge's engineers.

"Hey what's up Edmund?" Tom asked.

"Oh man, I'm glad I found you. We don't have enough people to set the stage up for tonight, and you're the only person left I know who knows how to rig the thing. Can you help us out?"

"Ah shit Edmund I was just going to hang out with Joseph,"

"Joseph? He's not at his house man, he's out somewhere practicing with his band. For tonight man! But yeah, he's not here right now."

"Oh alright….I guess I can help you out Edmund. Let's go," The two turned around and started out of the town to the field, where the stage was set up. Or at least, mostly set up…..

***

_Five Hours Later…._

The stage was finally set-up. Tom sat off the stage with some of the Roadies and Engineers, a smile on his face. People filled practically the entire field, people who had come from as far as the jungle to witness this spectacular show. The sun was setting, and the moon began to rise. `One of the Roadies had handed Tom a beer, which he now sipped appreciatively. All the work had made him pretty tired. He decided to take off without telling anyone. He walked out of the area of the concert and decided to hike the small hill with the Maltese cross on top. He could rest from a hard days work and still enjoy the show from the vantage point. He finally reached the top just as the show began. A smile cracked across his face as the opening power chord of the concert was hit. The crowd was so alive, and the music was so real. Tom felt as if he could just get sucked in…

A pair of hands suddenly grasped his shoulders.

"Hey Tom," Said a feminine voice.

"Rose." Tom said comfortably, as her hands had started to massage his aching back muscles.

"Yeah…what have you been doing? Your muscles are tight." Rose sat down behind him, her jean-clad legs going on either side of his hips.

"I've been working. I helped the guys build the stage. Speaking of that. Why aren't you down there? It sounds like a great show."

"Yeah well, I saw you come up here, and you looked like you could use some company," Rose said soft and seductively. "And you know, we don't really hang out much."

Tom gave a comfortable hmmm in response and there was a pause for a bit. For the first time today since he had gotten in bed, he could really relax. Rose's perfectly curved legs were great to sit in between, her scent was intoxicatingly beautiful, and the soft music from the field soothed him even more, as the band playing switched from playing heavy metal to a slower ballad. Tom was sure a lighter tribute would be going on right about now.

"You give a great massage you know." He murmered.

"Thanks," Rose giggled. She suddenly swung around his hips and landed on his lap facing him.

"You are acrobatic too." This made Rose smile, a weird kinky smile that made Tom suddenly wonder where else she was acrobatic.

"You know, everyone is down at the concert….we are all alone up here…" Rose leaned in close to whisper those last few words in his ear. It also gave her a chance to rub her chest against his and ride her legs further up, so they were practically interlocked.

"Yeah….we are alone. It's really nice up here…Don't you just love the scenery?" Tom said.

"Oooh I love it when you act like this Tom!" She pushed him back so that he was lying on his back, so she was now straddling him. She picked up his hands and placed them on her hips.

"Thank you. My back was hurting, it's a lot better now that I'm lying down." Rose giggled and than adopted a fake serious face and voice.

"Don't act all funny with me Tom! I'm trying to be serious here!" They both laughed and Rose bent her body down so she was face to face with Tom.

"I've waited a long time to be face to face with you Tom. Face to face…..and alone……ever since that time you played that concert last year I've……I've been in love with you…" her face was so close now to Tom's that their faces were practically touching. Tom said nothing yet. This was practically a dream come true for him. He had been looking at Rose for years as a possible wife. He had never been all that good at talking with girls, and here she was, proclaiming her love for him! It seemed almost to good to be true.

"I love you! God Tom, I love you so much! Please, tell me you love me too! Tell me! I need to hear you say it!" Rose, for the first time Tom had ever seen her, was desperate. Tom slid his hands from her hips to her back and rolled her onto her back.

"I don't need to say it Rose….I can show you." He said softly. He leaned forward and their lips met. Her hands trembled as they moved up to the back of his head, ran her fingers through his shoulder-length brown hair. Their kiss grew more and more passionate, while back at the concert, someone caressed the strings of their guitar, making it weep with a noise so beautiful, a noise that seemed to echo Rose and Tom's feelings for each other……it would indeed be a night to remember…..


	2. Chapter 2

"Thomas! Thomas! Tom!"

Tom rolled over in his sheets. _What the hell? _He opened his eyes. It was dark. There was someone standing next to his bed. Tom's hand shot out of his covers and hit the oil lamp on. The room was illuminated with light. Tom was momentarily blinded, while he grabbed his dagger and jumped out of the bed. His sight came back after a few seconds. The person standing at the side of his bed was Joseph.

Joseph was a skinny gaunt person. Compared to Tom, who was rather muscular, Joseph was rather frail. He had black hair, just long enough to cover his ears. He was wearing black jeans, the Rock Festival T-Shirt from the previous night, and a black leather trenchcoat. His aviators were propped up on his forehead. He had a pair of drumsticks stuck in his pocket, and he had a large canvas duffel back next to him on the floor.

"Joseph what the hell," Tom looked out the window. Judging by where the moon was it was about two in the morning. "Why did you wake me up….and why the hell are you in my house? How the fuck did you get in my house?"

"I'm sneaky dude. Like a lynx. Dude we need to get out of here. Pack your shit up; I'll explain when we get out of Bladehenge. Right now we just need to get out." Joseph said.

If Joseph had something important enough to break into his house, Tom didn't need to be told twice. He pulled on his typical clothing, this time donning his leather Biker Jacket as well to keep warm in the night chill. He grabbed his duffel bag and tossed extra clothes, some extra picks and strings, blade sharpener, his tab book, and some other random things in the bag. He slung his guitar on his back in its leather gig bag, and strapped his sword to his belt.

"Let's go."

They crawled out the window and down into the street.

"I have a hot rod outside the city, be quiet." Joseph whispered. The two walked silently down the road to the south for a ways, finally passing outside of the large Hextadon tusks that marked the city limits. The hot rod was waiting just outside. The two hopped in and drove off to the west. After driving for about ten minutes, they pulled off into a grove of trees.

"Okay dude, what's going on?" Tom asked.

"Alright listen. Last night you weren't at the concert…and neither was Rose…so when I was done playing I started looking for you…and well….Roses brother was looking for Rose…"

_Shit._

"So I found you and her up next to the Cross, and you were both passed out and…well. Rose's brother came up right after I did. You know what her brother thinks of us."

Rose's brother was one of the few humans who didn't like metal, and wanted to explore new types of music. Not to mention he was, despite his dislike for the manliest variety of music, extremely strong.

"So anyways, he was about to ready to kill your sorry ass, but I convinced him that he should wait until tomorrow. So you can have a fair fight. He bought it and left. So I carried you back to your house, you must have really been tired or wasted or some shit I don't know man, but you were out cold. But anyways, I decided that it's not a good idea for you to fight that big mother fucker."

"Okay….so what are we doing? What about Rose dude?"

"Okay here's the plan. Since we can't go back to Bladehenge, because we will get our asses kicked, I've decided as long as we are gone, let's tour the fucking continent! Look I found this map; it's got all these cool fuckin' places on it."

"What about Rose?"

"Dude, Rose will still be there when we get back! Remember how her brother was talking a couple weeks back about how he was moving in a few weeks to go help rebuild the Great Highway going west? Well, we will explore the continent for like a month, then come back to Bladehenge and you can woo what's-her-face.

"Rose!"

"Whatever man, are you in, or do you want to go back right now? It's not my ass on the line; I'm trying to help you out." Tom weighed the facts in his head. Rose's brother could definitely kick his ass. Then again, what if Rose thought he was a wuss for leaving because of being scared of her brother? Then there was the offer of touring the entire continent, which could be fun…

"Alright, I'll do it. What's your plan?"

"Alright there's the spirit! Okay look at this map. We are here. Now, after much studying and planning, I've decided we need to first visit The Sacred Beer Tree. So that we can get a bunch of beer for the trip! Okay, than we travel along this road, across the northern rim of the plains, check out that sick guitar statue. There's a place up here called Stonehenge Park, than we cross the Great Highway, go up to this big mountain with the face on top, I don't know what it's called, than we check out these mines. From there we check out this pleasure Dome place, we go up to the mountains, to this big statue of a guy holding an eyeball, than through Death's Clutch into the Jungle. We check this Palace/Temple place out, than we head south, through this weird place, check out that big skull looking thing, than we ditch the car, climb over this mountain pass, check out Mount Rockmore, and then walk back to Bladehenge. This trip will take about a month total, which is perfect!"

The more Joseph talked about this plan, the nicer it sounded. And the less he thought of Rose. It would be awesome to explore the entire continent, and most of the places on the map looked pretty sweet.

"Alright man, I like it. Let's camp out here tonight and tomorrow morning we'll hit the beer tree." Tom said.

The two unloaded their gear from the vehicle, built a fire, and cooked some of the food that Joseph had brought with him. The food would last only so long. Eventually they would have to start hunting, but that posed no serious problem, they both knew how to hunt proficiently. After eating, Joseph turned the Mouth of Metal in the car on, and they fell asleep for the last few hours of the night with the music of the titans playing through the speakers.

They woke up when the sun first started shining down. They packed the car and Joseph took the wheel, plowing over animals as he drove, and blaring heavy metal. Tom really felt at home here, this is where he could really appreciate the land the fire-beast had given him, and the rest of the human race. Tom had never really gone far out of Bladehenge, and this area was a pleasant surprise. It wasn't far to the Beer Tree, they parked at the bottom of the hill it was on and then climbed to the top of it.

The tree was surrounded by rock pillars and formations, and also kegs. The tree itself was massive, and it seemed to have a hollow under it from which the beer flowed. The two rockers were in awe as they approached the sacred beer tree.

"Stop." They stopped and turned around to meet the voice that had commanded them. They now looked at a small hunched over man, with wispy white hair and an epic beard. He had huge bulging neck muscles. He was a head banger.

"Are you the keeper of the sacred beer tree?" Asked Tom.

"Yeah man…I've been doing this for 250 fucking years….."

"That's a long time….how could you live that long?" Asked Joseph.

"The Gods of Metal have given me this task, and so I shall do this task until they no longer wish me to do it….I am immortal. Forever bound to maintaining this tree."

"Huh…..well, can we get some beer?"

"What can you offer me in return?"

Tom looked at Joseph, dumbfounded. Joseph seemed to have an answer though.

"Here let me find it….."He began rooting around through his pack. "Here, I found it. Will this do?" Joseph held up a leather bag, and tossed it to the old head banger. The keeper opened the bag and looked inside. He smelt it, hesitated a moment, and then nodded.

"This will do. Take three kegs. That should do for your journey."

"How do you know we are on a journey?"

The keeper simply smiled, and retreated to his tent.

"Dude what did you give him?" Tom asked.

"Oh I gave him some weed dude. A whole bunch."

"Oh. Okay. Hey let's get these kegs down to the hot rod and let's get out of here." It took them about half an hour to drag the heavy kegs to the bottom of the hill and rig them to the back of the vehicle. Once again, they hopped into the car. Joseph made sure to steer clear of Bladehenge, going north to the Great Highway to turn east back to the plains. For a few minutes they drove in the shadow of the Highway, but all too soon they were back in the sunlight. Joseph eased to a stop behind the huge statue of the massive hands holding a guitar.

"Damn….that thing is huge…."Tom murmured.

"That's what she said."

"What?"

"Never mind….hey, look, somebody attached ropes to it….I think we can climb up to the top! We will get a great view of Bladehenge at least!" Tom agreed to this and grasped the rope firmly before ascending.

Slowly but surely, he managed to get to the top, his muscles burning and sweat in his eyes. He took a moment to gather his breath and wipe his brow before taking a look over the edge. He was standing on top of one of the huge stone tuning knobs, facing south towards Bladehenge. It seemed that the Stage had been mostly cleaned up, and mostly all of the outsiders who had attended had left or were staying a few more days to make trade with the city. Tom had never seen Bladehenge from this angle….it truly was beautiful. Tom's eyes turned to the hill with the Maltese Cross and felt a small pang of regret. He hoped Rose was okay, and that her brother wasn't too pissed off. Tom heard a grunt behind him – Joseph had made it to the top.

"Wow….that is intense….look there's Mount Rockmore…..the Beer Tree….great Highway…..Battersmith. And there's that weird mountain with the face….this is awesome!"

Tom nodded in response. He glanced off the edge of the guitar. He instantly regretted it. They were high up. And it was scary as hell! He smelt something behind him. He carefully spun around to see that Joseph had lit a joint.

"Want some?" Joseph gasped. This was strong stuff.

"Eh…no. I think I'm good. I think I'm gonna head down."

"Dude! What the hell, I can't climb down with one hand!"

"Dude, hold the thing in your mouth. It's easy. Let's go." With that Tom turned around and started carefully climbing down the rope. It was much scarier coming down, but it seemed to go by a lot quicker. Tom's feet were soon on hard ground again. He looked up to see Joseph coming down at a slow pace about halfway up. Tom sat down on the vehicle and pulled out his guitar. He would jam a little bit while waiting. He didn't bother pulling out the tab book; he had already memorized all the songs in it.

He flipped a switch to make it so that his guitar wouldn't go ape-shit and shoot lightning and fire out of it. About fifteen minutes later, Joseph got down. His face was cherry red.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah man….I had that joint in my mouth right? And I forgot it was there after a bit, and I was breathing really heavy. Dude I was only getting smoke! No air! I'm so fucking high right now!" His eyes were so bloodshot they weren't even white anymore. He also had a bunch of ashes on the front of his shirt from the burnt out doobie.

"Wow…I guess I'll drive. Get in." The two hopped in the car (although it took Joseph a few tries), and Tom started the engine. It roared to life. He stepped on the gas pedal and the hot rod leapt forward about five feet before sputtering to a stop.

"What the fuck…." Tom jumped out and walked around. When he opened the hood, he was greeted with a face full of steam.

"Ah FUCK!" Tom screamed. "It BURNS!" Joseph sat in the car, laughing hysterically. Tom finally managed to calm himself down and peered into the hood. The entire engine was somehow completely torn to shit. Tom stared at the wrecked vehicle for a few long seconds before telling Joseph, who suddenly seemed quite sober.

"Well……I guess we're shit out of luck"


	3. Chapter 3

Tom and Joseph sat in the wrecked car, quietly. No music, no talking, nothing. A few wisps of steam and smoke still wafted up from the torn-up engine.

"Dude…what happened to the car….It's destroyed…." Tom asked quietly.

"I don't know man….this car aint going anywhere though. And we sure as hell can't go to Bladehenge…shit." Jospeh replied.

More silence. The sun started to descend.

"Maybe we should keep going…..I mean, Stonehenge Park is just like a mile away right? Let's walk there and maybe there will be someone who knows how to fix the car…" Tom suggested.

"What about the kegs man?" Joseph asked, as if the kegs were the only thing in his life he cared about.

"We will have to leave them behind dude….c'mon let's go, we're wasting time." Tom jumped out of the vehicle, slung his gear over his shoulder and started walking. It wasn't long before he heard Joseph sigh, hop out of the car, and jog to catch up. Time seemed to go by much slower when there was no music playing, no wind rushing past your face. The sun was soon completely gone, and it was cold and dark now.

Tom shifted the duffel bag on his shoulder. The two-inch wide strap felt like it was just a piece of string, cutting into his skin under the weight of its contents. He gasped for breath, his throat dry, begging for water. He realized that he hadn't brought a water bottle….shit. He and Joseph were now at the bottom of a large hill, over the crest of which they could make it the tops of the spires making up Stonehenge Park. Tom glanced over his shoulder. Joseph was about 50 yards back, the guitar statue at least a mile back. _A mile isn't even that much, _Tom thought to himself, disgusted in the amount of time it had taken him to hike such a short distance. With a new sense of resolve, he started up the hill.

Finally, he made it to the top, panting and soaked with sweat. He was surprised….all the old timers had told him this place was but a monument, a place where few people came. In the years since they had traveled the world however, it seemed to have evolved into a full village. The Stone pillars and spires still stood, but now, about fifteen houses surrounded it. Joseph came up shortly behind him, in even worse shape than Tom.

"Dude….where's the fuckin inn? This is bull shit." Joseph gasped. Tom looked around. He spotted a large building, most likely the inn. He pointed and started walking. The streets were empty, everyone had already gone to bed. However, there were lively sounds coming from the inn. The two companions stepped up the wooden steps to the porch and slowly opened the door. The bottom floor of the inn was a pub, with maybe twenty people in it. There was a small acoustic band playing some cheerful music. The place was full of smoke, and not a single person didn't have a beer in their hand.

"Hey, do you have a room available?" Tom asked the bartender.

"We may…whats your name? You aren't familiar to me."

"We come from Bladehenge…I am Tom, this is my friend Joseph. We are merely passing through this area. Our vehicle broke down, we need shelter and help."

"Bladehenge huh? I was just there for the concert a few days back….dont remember it too well though, I was kind of out of it….and yeah, we have a few rooms open. What do you have?" Tom looked at Joseph. Joseph merely had a look that said 'I no longer have any marijuana in my possession'.

"One moment." Tom said. He and Joseph retreated a few steps.

"What are we going to pay him with?"

"I don't know Joseph, I'm not the one who smoked away all of our money…."

"What else do we have? How bout your guitar?"

"Fuck that! No one is getting this guitar from me! Do you have anything else?"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, easy. You look like you need some rest…look, take the rooms, sleep tonight, tomorrow I will find some way for you to repay me." The bartender said, as he pulled a key from under the bar, tossing it to Tom.

"Ah, thanks man! We'll repay you, don't worry about it!" Tom exclaimed joyfully. The bartender nodded in response and continued his bartending duties.

The two rockers jumped up the stairs and found the room they had been assigned. Surprisingly, it actually had two beds, although the room was rather tiny. They wasted no time talking or anything. They both dropped their gear to the floor and collapsed into bed. Tomorrow would hopefully bring better fortune….


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, please give me some reviews on this, I am almost to the finish, or at least, about 2-5 chapters away from the finish. Trust me, I have an epic ending planned, but I really want to know what you guys think of this. Thanks!

_Tom wandered aimlessly through the misty clouds of his dream. White clouds everywhere. He was dressed normally, had his guitar around his back. A voice from the nothing-ness –_

"_Tom….do you see me?"_

_As the voice pierced his mind, the form of a woman took shape in front of him. She was dressed similarly to him, jeans, spikes, black t-shirt. She had beautiful eyes…her perfect, slightly pale face was framed by brown, straight hair. _

"_Who are you?" Tom whispered._

"_I am nothing…I am a memory, a spirit, whatever you wish to call me. You may call me Ophelia, that was what they called me when I inhabited this earth."_

"_Ophelia…."Tom repeated her name softly. "Why have you come to me?"_

"_Tom, the world is at peace right now. There is no tyrant in charge; there is no war where you live. But Tom, the time is coming when evil will come around again. I can sense it; it comes from the sea of black tears. Tom, it is mere months until this evil bursts out. You, you Tom, must be there when it happens….you must stop it."_

"_The sea of black tears…..we are already planning on going there…what do I-"_

"_Tom, I know of your journey. Keep doing it. Keep going, and don't quit, no matter what happens. When the time comes, you will know what to do. Tell no one that I have visited you. Stay true, Tom…." She began to fade._

"_Wait, why me! Why does it have to me? I don't anything about Black Tears! Who are you?"_

"_Another time, Tom….."_

White light.

Tom sat up in his bed. He looked over to Joseph. He wasn't in his bed. Tom wearily rubbed his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. Ophelia… where had he heard that name before? He knew it struck a chord with him, he just couldn't remember where… whatever. She seemed important. He was going to heed her advice. He got off the bed and walked downstairs. Joseph was at a table with some other people. Tom took a seat.

"Hey what's up Tom? Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I slept fine. You?"

"I was okay. Look I've been talking to these guys; they say they can't fix our car. But they said that we can stay here as long as we'd like, or they could even get us a lift back to Bladehenge, what do you say?"

Ophelia had said not to stop, to keep moving on…not having a vehicle would be a downer, but they could make it on foot. Maybe they could find a car a different way, later on. And he sure as hell didn't want to go back to Bladehenge, especially now that he had a mission to fulfill.

"No, I think we can keep going dude…"

"What? You seriously want to walk across an entire continent? Carrying all our stuff? What's your deal?"

"Dude, I'm not going back there to get beat up by Rose's brother, I'm sorry."

"Look, these guys said they could come with us and help us beat him to shit. C'mon, I don't want to walk all that way!"

"Joseph, I just really want to keep doing this, our forefathers walked all over the place, why can't we? Remember all the cool shit on the map? Let's do this man!"

Joseph looked long and hard into Tom's eye for a moment.

"Fuck. Fine. We'll do it. Geez, if it means THAT fucking much to you." Joseph slammed his drink down and stormed away from the table. Tom turned to the other guys at the table.

"What's his deal? He's kind of pissy." Tom said.

"Yeah well, you can't blame him man, the road aint for everyone. Look, we think you should go back too or at least stay here for a while, but if you really want to do this shit, here's some advice. You know those raptor elk? Alright, if you've got a guitar, sneak up behind one and then shock it! While it's stunned, jump on its fuckin' back! Then you can ride it around! It's not super quick, but shit, it's better than walking."

"Thanks," Tom smiled. "We'll definitely try that. Well I'm gonna go pack, and try to talk to Joseph. I'll see you guys later." Tom stood up and walked back to the room. Joseph was already packed, sitting on his bag, smoking something in his pipe. Tom didn't bother talking to him just yet. He packed all his stuff up, put his stuff across his back and stood by the door. Joseph glanced up at him, muttered a swear word or two, and stood up. They walked out of the inn without a word to each other or anyone else, and started walking north. They walked for about fifteen minutes before Joseph spoke up.

"Hey I'm sorry I got angry back there…it was uncalled for."

"It's fine dude…"

"No it's not, I came up with the idea to do this shit, I shouldn't be backing down, and I definitely shouldn't be getting pissed at you for wanting to go through with it. Thanks for being cool about it though."

"Yeah no problem dude."

A few silent minutes passed.

"Hey those guys told me about this trick with Raptor Elks; it'll make this walk easier. Wanna try it?" Tom asked.

"Sure." Joseph replied. Tom unslung his guitar, switched it to full power, and struck a chord. The E Major rang out across the field, as a lightning bolt hit the ground in front of them. Tom smiled.

"Now we just need to find an elk." They set all their things down, and began hunting the area for some elk. Joseph finally found two together, walking around in the grass. Tom snuck about fifteen feet away from them and then struck two chords in rapid succession. Both elk fell to the ground, twitching.

"Jump on it!" Tom yelled. They ran over and leaped onto their elk. They were theirs now. It was fun…and surprisingly easy. They went back and gathered up all their things. Time to keep going. It was easier now though, still, there was no music, but the two could easily talk back and forth as they went. They didn't bother trotting, they preferred the slow easy pace, and when night fell, they were about halfway to the mines they had planned on visiting.

They set up a basic camp, lit a fire, and cooked some food on it. They sat around it now, Tom playing some tunes on his guitar. Joseph looked on as Tom ran through some of his favorite jams.

"You know, I really wish I had learned to play guitar sometimes." Joseph said.

"Why? Drums are cool dude. You don't have to have two weapons all the time, your sticks are friggin insane, you can kill people with a pair of wooden sticks! I have to carry a sword and a guitar around when I hunt, or if I were to join a fuckin army or some shit."

"What army?" Joseph asked.

"I…I don't know….I guess we don't really have an army come to think of it." Tom said, than laughing at himself.

"Well anyways, yeah I guess your right about drum sticks being bad ass. Their sort of like daggers in combat dude, these things are really hard, made specifically for fighting. And drumming of course." Joseph said, laughing as well. "Although, it does kinda suck when I have to move my drum kit. I kind of wanted to study that weird magic shit, you know, like that band that could just make their instruments appear out of thin air you know? It's some crazy magic shit they all know up in the mountains, those weird ass nomadic people. I don't know, when we pass through there, maybe they can teach me some shit."

"Yeah….hey, I'm beat dude, I'm going to bed."

"Alright, see you in the morning."

"G' Night."

***

The mines where relatively boring. They were empty, and rather un-spectacular. Tom and Joseph continued to speak of random things as they rode their elk further along the road as they went to their next destination, the mountain with the face on it.

They finally reached the base of the mountain. The pass leading in was rather scary. There were dismembered hands, and wires and strings going all over the place. Various DO NOT ENTER signs were all over the place. The two sat there for a very long time before deciding it wouldn't hurt to try going up. They left their mounts at the bottom, than started up, sword and sticks in hand. They received no resistance. They finally made it to the top.

The top of the mountain was actually carved in; it was an amphitheater of sorts lined with couches and statues. Biker dudes sat on the couches, drinking beer and staring at the newcomers through highly mirrored sunglass lenses. Tom and Joseph wandered into the middle of the area, looking warily around.

"Who da hell are you guys?" A raspy voice yelled. The source of the voice came from above. They looked up to see a man standing on a balcony. He wore a cowboy hat and a black denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His eyes as well were obscured by sunglasses, and he had a beard, which almost covered up two very large warts on his cheek. A cigarette was held loosely in his lips.

"We are travelers….who are you? " Tom said quietly

"I'm the Killmaster! Why da fuck are you up here?" He responded loudly yet somehow still mumbled.

"We are from Bladehenge; we are traveling around the world, to see it, Killmaster sir!

"Bladehenge huh? I knew a guy from Bladehenge once, but that was about 200 years ago."

"200 years? How old are you?

"Shit, I don't know how old I am. All I can say is I've seen a lot of shit. Don't remember a lot, but I definitely remember Eddie. Yeah, when you're around this healing shit for so long, some of the healing wears off on you. I shoulda died a long time ago."

"What do you do up here?"

"Drink beers, smoke pot, play bass. That's pretty much it. Actually we were about to light a couple bowls up, we don't really let visitors partake much, but you two seem pretty straight shooters. And you've got a guitar! I tell you, bass is awesome, but it gets boring by itself after a while."

"Hey that's awesome! Let's do this!" Joseph cried excitedly.

The two rockers along with about 20 bikers got into a massive circle, and then the Killmaster brought out a giant bong. It was oddly reminiscent of Indian Peace Pipe rituals. The bong was passed around; eventually it made it to Tom and Joseph. Tom was first. He took a massive hit.

"Holy shit." He coughed. This was the strongest shit he'd ever smoked. He rocked back and forth a few times before face planting into the ground in front of him and passing out.

_The clouds were black this time. The area was cold. Tom was slightly scared. Was he going to die? How powerful was that shit?_

"_Tom…do you hear my voice?"_

_A figure formed in front of him. She wasn't Ophelia, or at least, Ophelia as he knew her. She was blue skinned; scantily clad in black…black something. It was wound around her like some kind of inky clothing, skin-tight. Her eye makeup was smeared and appeared to be dripping down, from tears most likely. Her eyes seemed dark and cold, yet still had a beauty to them. Her hair was black now, an unnatural black, as though it had been died. She seemed to float, on black mist, rather than walk. And now she floated over to Tom._

"_Tom…do you know who I am?" Her voice seemed darker now, but sexier in a weird way._

"_O…Ophelia?" Tom guessed._

_She laughed. _

"_No, I'm not Ophelia…I'm a representation of Ophelia. Or more so, a representation of all of her sorrow, anger, you know…that stuff."_

"_What do you want?" Tom asked, somewhat uneasily._

_Again, she laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh, it was like a laugh she had to force herself to do."_

"_I want you…Tom. I want you to join me!"_

_Tom somehow found himself drawn to her. She had a power over him, he was attracted to her. She intoxicated him somehow._

"_Join you? How…?_

_Ophelia again laughed, and climbed onto his lap. She embraced him. Her skin was cool, but it was smooth, oh so smooth, and perfect…._

"_It's easy," She leaned her face in against his, resting her cheek on his."All you have to do…..is take a little swim in my pool," She giggled, and then brushed her lips against his, slowly, seductively._

"_Swim…..pool……where?"Tom whispered, feeling his hands travel around to her hips, as though drawn slowly by magnets._

_She didn't answer him immediately, instead kissing him gently on the lips, and then working her tongue past his lips, French kissing now, as she rubbed her hands slowly around on his back. She pulled away from the kiss after a minute or two. She started sliding down his chest, smiling up at him the whole time, with a sly, foxy smile. _

"_Take a swim…" She rubbed her hand around his groin a little bit. "In the sea…" She rested her chin on his stomach, just above his belt buckle. "Of Black Tears….."She smiled one last time, looking directly into his eyes, with a look that said "you can have more if you do what I tell you to do", before disappearing._

"_Okay……" Tom mumbled as everything else disappeared too._

"TOM!" Someone shouted.

His eyes burst open, flooding his eyes with light. He got adjusted eventually, and found himself looking up at the Killmaster.

"It was that God-Damned Blue-Skinned Tear-Drinker! Son of a bitch! Forget everything she told you son, everything! It's a lie!"

"How….how?

"How did I know, boy, you're as pale and cold as a dead body, and this entire time, you've been moaning, Ophelia, Ophelia….this is not a good road!

"How do you know it was….ugh I'm gonna pass out again." Tom said, dizziness surrounding him.

"No! Listen, I know it was the bad one, because the real Ophelia would never pull that shit on someone, she loves her husband too much. And besides, she's a Rock Goddess, she's up there with Eddie and the other Rock Gods, she can't really do much, except talk. That drowned girl though….I don't know how that shit works, but the fact that that evil spirit is wandering around bugs the hell out of me, I don't know what is going on here, but I need to talk to Eddie."

"Wait…Ophelia….good Ophelia, she said I need to go to the sea anyways….she said that two nights ago…what should I do?"

"Did she huh? Well, I'd say still go; just don't touch the damn water. The real Ophelia knows what's going on. Listen; just don't do anything the blue one told you to do okay?

"Alright….where's Joseph?"

"We're still trying to wake him up….look get some rest, you're in a bed already, I took you in here when you started spazzing out. Tomorrow, we'll see about helping you guys out with a ride or something, if Ophelia wants you at the Sea, this must be important. I'm going to go check on your friend…get some rest."

Tom didn't need to be told twice.


	5. Chapter 5

Tom had a dreamless sleep after being left to rest by the Killmaster. Upon waking up, he noticed that he was alone in the room he had been put in. He blinked a few times and got out of bed. There were two Ophelia's? Tom was totally confused. He needed to find the Killmaster; he seemed to know what was going on. Luckily for him, the Killmaster found him.

"Alright you're awake. We got your friend up; he's eating breakfast right now. We asked him a few questions; it doesn't seem like Ophelia visited him too, he was just passed out. You guys must not have very good stuff where you come from if-"

"Killmaster, I have some questions. Can you answer them?"

"Well, don't cut me off boy, but I think I can answer them, what do you need?" The two sat down in some chairs on the other side of the room.

"Alright, what's this deal with Ophelia, why are there two of her? And who's this Eddie guy?"

"One question at a time my friend….alright. This is gonna take a while, so bear with me.

"200 years ago, we were under the rule of a demon emperor, Doviculous. You probable knew that, it gets taught to everyone your age at some point. What they wouldn't tell you would be about Eddie. He had a way of avoiding being talked about; it was just how he liked it to be. Anyways, Eddie came back to this time, from the future, I don't exactly how, they never really told me. But Eddie joined sides with us, we were the Ironheade, you probably know about them as well. Well anyway, Ophelia was one of us too. And Eddie and Ophelia grew to fall in love with each other. After we killed Lionwhyte though, Doviculous showed up. He killed our king and threw some words around that really confused us all. We all thought that Ophelia had betrayed us. So we left her behind, Eddie left her too, and that broke her heart.

"She wandered, heartbroken across the land, until she found the Sea of Black Tears. What an escape, right? Well, she jumped in, and her body went down to the bottom. A representation of Ophelia's anger, sorrow, and hatred for us came back up. She wanted revenge. She formed her own army, the Drowning Doom, and teamed up with Doviculous. We fought our way to the Sea of Black Tears, and killed Doviculous and the Drowned Girl. Eddie rescued Ophelia from the sea, and we all went back to Bladehenge. The end."

"Wait…I thought that Eddie and Ophelia were both Rock Gods? How did that work out?" Tom asked.

"Oh yeah. Well, a couple years after all that crap happened, the Guardian of Metal summoned Eddie and Ophelia up and told them that considering how awesome they were here on Earth, they could rise up and become Rock Gods. Eddie and Ophelia both accepted, as their work here on Earth had been done. They left, and the world has been at Peace since then."

"Wow…that's crazy…wait, I've heard of Ophelia before! Her face is on Mount Rockmore! Yours is too!"

"Yeah, I know, I know. It's Me, Ophelia, Lars, and Mangus. We wanted to put Eddie up, but he said he didn't like being in the spotlight of course. Lita said her brother deserved the spot more than herself. We didn't have room for the Fire Baron; we would've put him up there too. He didn't mind much either, he insisted he didn't do much in the war. Which is bull shit, but whatever."

"So…what should I do?" Tom asked.

"Well, like I said before, you need to keep pushing along. You need to make it to the Sea of Black Tears. Whatever Ophelia told you to do, the good Ophelia that is, do exactly that. She probably has plans. Oh, and don't tell your friend about either Ophelia. He was passed out when you were, so he has no idea anything happened to you. Keep it that way."

"Okay. When should we leave?"

"You can leave now if you'd like. We decided it wouldn't be that great if you had to walk….so we're gonna loan you two bikes. Just make sure they get back to us someday."

"Thanks Killmaster…I don't know what else to say."

"Shit, don't say anything man, just get back on the road! You've got a mission to complete for a Rock Goddess! Get your friend and get out of here!" The Killmaster had a slight smile as he said this, and Tom smiled back. The Killmaster was a Badass, but it seemed he had a nice humorous side too. He shook his hand before picking up his gear and leaving. He found Joseph standing next to two motorcycles, shades on, cigarette in between his lips.

"No weed huh?" Tom asked as he stepped over to his bike, pulling his shades on as well.

"Dude. I'm not gonna need to smoke weed for a long time after that shit from last night. Let's go." Joseph said coolly. Tom laughed as he mounted his bike and revved the engine. They didn't look back as they drove down the side of the mountain.

***

If Tom was going to enjoy this trip, he wasn't going to try thinking about his mission, so he tried to purge it from his memory. The motorcycles were the shit, they traveled way faster than the hot rod they had had previously. They could be at the Sea of Black Tears within five days probably, and still visit all the places they had wanted to. They soon passed through Battersmith, up through the Cleave of the Impaler.

Tom slowed to a stop, as did Joseph.

"What's up?" Joseph asked.

"Check this place out….it's the old Pleasure Tower. This is where Lionwhyte lived." The place was covered in rock, from some form of destruction that had taken place centuries before. Yet, despite the dirtiness of the place, some glamour still remained, water still flowed through the pools, palm trees still grew, and there a still a funky cocoa butter smell. The place was totally uninhabited.

"Huh. The guy had a weird sense of fashion; this place is totally different from anything I've ever seen." Joseph said, looking at some of the odd statues.

"Yeah, this is quite different. I wonder what it looked like before it got destroyed though. Probably way cooler, piles of chicks and booze everywhere."

"That does sound pretty nice. Hey, let's get outta here; I really want to check out those mountains."

"Alright." The two mounted up again and drove north to the exit. The air got noticeably colder quite quickly. Their leather jackets kept them somewhat warm, but their faces quickly froze in the icy wind. They didn't talk much to each other, driving along the road through the mountains, instead concentrating on staying warm. Joseph finally broke the silence.

"What's that?"

Tom looked up from his handlebars. Coming around the corner now, he could see it, a giant statue of a man holding what looked like an eyeball. The two slowed down and stopped on the edge of the cliff, but didn't get off their bikes. Tom blew on his hands in an effort to warm them up.

"Would you look at that? That is crazy man….I wonder who that guy is?" Joseph asked.

"No idea…he looks pretty fuckin intense though. He's holding a giant eyeball, what do you think he killed?"

"I don't know…hey when we find those nomadic people or whatever; we should ask them if they know who he is." Joseph suggested.

"Okay. Let's keep going. I hope that its close." They started their engines back up and continued along the icy road. Tom's fingers and toes were ice cubes. His face was number than ever. How do people live up here?

They came around a bend and saw a road sign and smoke rising in the distance.

Death's Clutch.

They looked at each other and then drove towards the smoke. There seemed to be a small village along the cliffs surrounding the area. Tom and Joseph hopped off the bikes and walked up to the first tier of huts. They walked up to the first one they saw and stood outside of the entrance.

"Hello! Hello! We are travelers, we seek refuge from the cold, can we come inside?" Tom shouted over the wind. The fur door opened, and they looked face to face with an old man who had a long gray beard. He looked very kind.

"Yeah, come in, come in. Hurry, you'll let the cold in." Tom and Joseph hurried in. Inside the fur hut, it was very warm. There was a fire going, the smoke escaped through a small hole in the roof. There were two guitars in stands in a corner of the room, an acoustic guitar and an electric. Tom had never seen an electric guitar like this one before, the name of the craftsman who made it was Fender, his signature up at the top.

"Hey you guys want some food? I just finished cooking some stew."

"Okay." They both said in unison. The old man retrieved three bowls and spoons, and filled them up, handing one to each of the men who had just entered. It was delicious.

"Thank you." Tom said, in between gulps of hot soup.

"No problem, no problem." Said the old man, looking at the two of them carefully. "So…you guys look like you're into metal, am I right?"

They nodded.

"Yeah, that's cool." He said. "My people and I are more into the older stuff. I suppose we are all kind of old. We came back into this land when Doviculous got killed. We were hiding out up north before. You could say the things we play fall under the….classical rock genre."

"So do you guys use magic?" Joseph asked, setting his empty bowl down on the floor.

"No," the man said, chuckling. "No, I suppose you could call it magic though. You see, you new folks are quite talented, but compared to us old folk, your just normal guitar players. The way we play, it may seem like magic, but no, we're just really good." The man chuckled again.

"But, can't you guys make your instruments appear out of thin air?" Joseph asked.

"Well, yeah. That is magic I suppose. My name is Page by the way. I'm a composer and an engineer, or at least, I used to be an engineer when I was in my prime."

"Well….can you teach me how to do this magic stuff? I hate moving my kit around…" Joseph said.

"Ah, yeah I could teach you. Just try and keep it a secret okay my friend?" Page said. "And what about your friend, the guitar player?"

"Ah I don't need to learn that stuff, thanks though. I'm kind of tired actually; do you have a place I could sleep, while you teach my friend your magic?" Tom asked, setting his bowl down as well.

"Sure, that bed in the corner. Nice guitar by the way, Gibson Les Paul, I used to use one myself."

"Yeah, thanks. My mother bought it for me for my birthday a while back. Have fun Joseph." Tom went over to bed and laid down in it. The hut was so warm; it wasn't hard for him to fall asleep at all….

"_Tom….Tom….Do you see me?"_

_Ophelia, the normal one, appeared out of the mist._

"_Tom, you are almost to the Sea….you have done well. You will soon be there, and the time is coming when you will need to fight this evil. Hold out your hand, Tom."_

_Tom held his hand out slowly. Ophelia reached out and grasped his hand with hers. He felt a warmth flow from hers into his. It felt like strength._

"_I have given you a gift, Tom. It is hidden within you. When the time comes, you will be able to use it. Again, when the time comes, you should use it. Use your instinct. Don't let him beat you, and don't touch the Sea of Black Tears, no matter what. It is imperative you must go there though. My husband wishes to speak with you….farewell, Tom." Ophelia faded from view, a large, bulky man appeared in her place. He was dressed very similarly to Tom, but he had laminate passes around his neck, and a flying V guitar was at his back._

"_Thanks Ophes. Hey what's up Tom?" _

"_Eddie?"_

"_Yeah, that's me. Hey, Ophes told you pretty much everything, I've got a little something to give you as well. Get your guitar out."_

_Tom pulled his guitar off of his back and pulled a pick out of his pocket._

"_Okay, I'm gonna teach a guitar solo okay? Now, when you play this, you will summon an old friend of mine okay? He will help you. He doesn't like to be disturbed though, so only play this when you absolutely cannot win, and death is looking you in the eyes. Okay?"_

"_Got it."_

"_Alright, it goes like this," Eddie proceeded to play an extremely fast guitar solo; Tom doubted he could ever play a solo like that._

"_Alright, keep that in mind, it seems difficult now, but in the heat of the moment, you will remember it and execute flawlessly. I gotta go now, have fun, and don't let the Black tears win."_

"_Okay…"_

The vision went black. Tom opened his eyes. Joseph and Page were both sleeping in other beds. Tom blinked a few times, and then fell back asleep. Tomorrow they would meet the Zaulia.

**Hey, I hope you guys got that classic rock reference, Page was meant to be a tribute to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, who was said to have almost magical powers when he played guitar. Don't worry, the Fire Barons will come into the story, I know they traditionally live in the mountains, I've got plans for them though. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Tom slept past when Page and Joseph awoke. When he got out of bed, they were gone. There was a bowl of some kind of food next to the fire. Tom gulped all of it down, some kind of oats. He got his clothes on, strapped his sword on, and put his guitar over his shoulder and than walked out.

The sky was always beautiful the day after the blizzard. There was not a cloud in sight, save for the ones far to the south, but there were always clouds over black tear territory. The area was more alive than it had been the previous night, kids were playing in the snow, people sat around fires, eating, smoking, laughing. Page and Joseph were behind the hut.

"Concentrate. Focus on your kit! Feel the energy it produces. Let your willpower and love for music flow through you! Now, concentrate, concentrate, feel the drums in your hands, feel them, perfectly tuned, perfectly set up….now, picture them in front of you!" Page coached Joseph. Joseph's face was contorted into a look of pure concentration. His eyes were shut tight. He grunted. A bass drum slowly materialized on the snow.

"Yes! Keep concentrating! Come on!"

The toms, the snare, and finally the cymbals gradually appeared. Josephs kit was perfectly assembled on the snow. His eyes opened.

"What! Oh my gosh! It worked!" He sat down on the throne, tested each drum. Perfectly tuned. Tom, smiling, pulled out his guitar, turned it up. Page also pulled his guitar out, seemingly out of thin air of course. The three felt a connection, and on the same count all started jamming. No particular song, just letting the music come naturally. The three got a pretty big crowd going, people coming around to see the little show going on. Finally Joseph hit the crash, Page and Tom both soloing like crazy as the song was over, and than boom! Everything stopped. The crowd erupted with applause.

"You guys are good! I should come down to Bladehenge sometime, we could play a show or something! That was fun!" Page said.

Joseph and Tom of course thanked him to no end, particularly Joseph. They would have liked to say, but hey, they had business to attend to. They both shook Pages hand, and Joseph "put away" his drums. They both hopped on their bikes that the Killmaster had loaned them, and then they were off. They day was great, and they actually weren't all that cold leaving the mountains and getting back down onto the main highway. They crossed over a massive bridge, made of scaffolding and stage materials. They passed into the jungle during the night. They pulled over briefly to look at the map, not as if they needed to, the temple could be seen from a mile away.

They pulled right up to the base of the temple, and started walking up the stairs. When they reached the top, it was a sight to behold. At least a hundred women, dancing and gyrating to the music. Completely naked. The two outsiders stood, awe-stricken. Suddenly, one of the women noticed them standing there. Everything stopped, all of the women staring at them.

"You….you barons?" one of them asked.

They started to say no, but before they even said a word-

"The barons are here!" The woman shouted. All of the others cheered. "Today is important Zaulia festival! Once a year, barons come down, and we spend night repopulating! Then they leave, and we have new generation Zaulia women! Although, usually more of you guys come down…..whatever. You will have busy night! Let's go!"

Tom turned to Joseph.

"Dude….as awesome as this is…..I cant….I have a girlfriend in Bladehenge dude!"

"Yeah well…..that sucks for you Tom. WOOHOO!" Joseph ran into the gaggle of women, and was quicly lost from sight. Tom sighed, and sat on the edge of the temple. It was a good ten minutes before he was distracted.

"You seem like a nice guy…I can be gentle if you'd like." Tom looked back. One of the Zaulia stood behind him, stark naked. Her body was perfect…more perfect than Rose….Tom looked away, ashamed of himself. The woman sat next to him.

"You are strange to me. You are not like other men. Usually they love this…you are different. Why?"

"I have a girl back home….waiting for me. I can't betray her love." Tom explained.

"Oh. You are from the west….different over there. Here, we don't limit to one partner…we love many. No one feels bad. No one has hurt feelings." She scooched herself closer to Tom. "I understand what your people do. But, if you cant help us, we will die. We live by ourselves, this is the only night were we can make new generations."

Tom looked at her. She seemed to be genuine in everything she was saying. He weighed his options…Rose would never know…and really, she had only been his girlfriend for a day…she could be seeing someone different now…..

"Okay." Tom said. She smiled. She rolled over onto Tom and unzipped his pants. She had barely started working on him when Tom heard an angry yell from the bottom of the temple.

"WHO THE FUCK IS UP THERE WITH OUR WOMEN!!!!!"

The real fire barons had arrived. And they weren't happy.

"You aren't a real Fire Baron?" The women asked, angrily.

"Sorry lady. I gotta go." Tom said, he pulled his pants up quickly and ran back to find Joseph. Joseph was lying on a bed mattress, with about ten satisfied looking Zaulia.

"Joseph! We need to get out of here. NOW!"

"What are you talking about man, there's work to be done here," Joseph looked up to see several angry fire barons, arriving at the top of the stairs. "I see. Let's go." Joseph jumped out of the bed. They were trapped.

"No one comes here and fucks OUR women! You assholes are gonna die!"

"No, we aren't." Tom said. He grabbed Josephs arm and ran to the edge of the Temple, taking one quick look back before leaping off the edge. As soon as he did, it seemed like a bad idea. The temple was much bigger than he had thought. They fell for a bit before hitting the jungle canopy, crashing through branches and shit, before finally landing in the marsh.

"OW! What the fuck Tom!"

"Hey, we aren't dead right? Now lets get out of he-……oh shit." Tom held up his guitar. The neck had been completely broken in half.

"DAMNIT! FUCKING SHIT! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?" Tom screamed.

"Well, we kinda jumped off a huge ass cliff dude. We honestly fell like 300 feet." Joseph suggested.

"Shut the fuck up!" Tom shouted. He stood up, threw the strap around his shoulder and walked off with his broken guitar on his back. Joseph followed. Together, they walked deeper into the swamp.


	7. Chapter 7

_Fuck the swamp. This place sucks._ Tom thought to himself, trudging through the knee-deep water, Joseph a few paces behind him. They had no music, they had no ride, and they had no directions. They were completely and utterly lost. The further they progressed into the swamp, the eerier it got. There were purple candles all about the place. Nooses hung from many branches, and some of them were filled, their gruesome occupants hanging nastily in the moonlight.

Tom really felt like a stupid ass. Here he was, walking through a nasty swamp with his prized possession draped over his back. And they had left all their supplies at the bikes. No food, no drink, nothing but the clothes on their back. If only Tom had just left right when they had gotten to the top of the temple, they could have avoided this mess.

They passed over some kind of thin metal object sunken into the ground…they were on ground now. They felt a bit better now; at least their feet were on something firm now.

"Hey let's stop. I'm tired dude." Joseph said. "Let's set up camp."

"What? Are you kidding me? You want to sleep here, in the swamp? Fuck that, we're probably almost out anyway!"

"No man, there's nothing but fog and water and shit every which way….maybe tomorrow the sun will make it easier to get out." Joseph suggested, sitting down on a stump as if he already knew they would be staying here.

"Ugh. You can sleep I guess. There's no way I'm falling asleep in this god awful place though. I'll stand watch."

"Thanks." Joseph lay down on a large fallen tree and started falling asleep. Tom sat down. As he did, he noticed that he still had his sword on his back. Finally, some good luck. He decided to investigate and see what else he had. Upon checking his pockets, he discovered he had a cigarette, flint and steel, his guitar pick, and a folded up piece of paper. He lit the cigarette, and decided to see if there was any dry wood around. He decided to use his sword and hack the outside of the stumps and logs apart to reveal the good dry wood on the inside. After about a half-hour of chopping, he had a small fire going. He sat at its edge, staying warm, puffing on his cigarette. He pulled the folded paper out of his pocket and started to throw it in the fire.

Words.

He stopped his hand and pulled the paper in front of his face. He had seen the corner of a word on it. He unfolded it, curious as to what it was.

_It must suck having a broken guitar._

What the hell? Tom looked around uneasily. He crumpled the paper up and tossed it behind him. A second later, it rolled up to his feet. There wasn't any wind in the jungle. He looked around again, before picking it back up.

_You know, I could probably fix that. I mean, no promises, but I'm pretty good at what I do._

This was downright creepy. Tom angrily tossed the paper in the fire. It flashed up in a bright flame that blinded Tom. A tall dark figure jumped out of the fire. It was wearing a cloak. The fire went out. The figure in black, standing before Tom, quite honestly scared the living hell out of him.

"What is it? What do you want?" Tom yelled. The figure pulled something out of his pocket and flicked it, giving off a flame which illuminated his face.

"I just want to talk!" The person, and it was a human, had a thick accent, and seemed pretty jovial.

"Who are you?" Tom asked, sitting up.

"Oh, I'm nobody…I'm just the Guardian of Metal." The guardian took a few steps back, as he did, the campfire reignited. He looked around at places to sit; finally, he shrugged, snapped his fingers, and sat in the throne that had appeared under him.

"The Guardian of Metal…what are you? What do you do?"

"Well. I am a keeper of timeless secrets. I'm pretty close with the Rock Gods and whatnot. Back in the day I used to help Eddie out, you know Eddie, well I used to help him out in his missions. Course after he left, no one else was worthy. So I've been underground for 200 years."

"Well, am I worthy? Or are you just here to chit-chat?"

"I don't know if you're worthy, you didn't find me, so in my book you aren't. But Ophelia and Eddie, they called me up a while back, and they said that there's a fellow up here who needs some help. So. Here I am. And I understand you have a guitar that needs fixing?"

"Well, yeah, if you can fix it…" Tom picked up the broken guitar, handing it to the Guardian.

"Hmmm." The guardian looked at it carefully. "Well, I left all my tools downstairs, tell you what, you take a nap, and by morning your guitar will be good as new. Don't worry about getting attacked. You're being watched over." And he disappeared without waiting for Tom to say anything.

It was a shame too, because Tom wanted to talk to him some more. He decided that he would heed the Guardian's advice. He lay down next to the fire. Closed his eyes.

Opened his eyes. The swamp was lighter now. It seemed like he hadn't even slept, just blinked, and time had passed by somehow. Joseph was awake too. The fire was out. The guitar was nowhere to be seen. Tom stood up. It was morning…and there wasn't a guitar…what the hell?

"Hey let's go. I'm totally ready to get out of here." Joseph said.

"Yeah…me too." Tom muttered, still looking around. With nothing to pack up, the two left rather quickly, Tom assured himself the Guardian was just running a little bit late. Tom had been right the night before. They were soon out of the swamp. They encountered a bridge, which marked the boundary between swamp and black tear area. They stood at the top of the bridge and scanned the area for a little bit. In the far distance, they could see the skull-shaped mountain covering the sea. Joseph still didn't know that they were on a quest. He just thought the place looked cool.

"What way should we go?" Joseph asked.

"I think we should go…left. Left for sure. If I remember the map right, we'll go through the Dry Ice Mines, and then we can get up out of them and get to the Skull Mountain." Tom didn't even want to call the place the Sea of Black Tears. He had an anxiety building up in him for what was surely coming up.

"Left it is. Let's go." Joseph said, and they started walking. The place was creepy, they were walking fast in an effort to get out of the creepiness, but of course their attempts were in vain because the Black Tear Region get's only creepier as you get deeper in.

They passed through the gates of the Dry Ice Mines and down the hill into the misty mines. They were surprised to find that there was a village down inside the mines.

"Let's see if they have a bar…I need some spirits man, this place is draining." Tom said. They found the largest building and walked in. The place was packed full, and the atmosphere was slightly mellow. It was dirty and sketchy too. Prostitutes hung around, scoping out possible clients. People gambled at almost every table. And almost every table was full. There were two empty seats at a table with an old woman. They took the seats.

"You boys from the West?" She asked.

"Yes, we come from Bladehenge. We are traveling." Tom said.

"Well what are you looking for?" She asked, sipping whatever it was she was drinking.

"We want to get to that Skull Mountain. Can you help us out?" Joseph said.

"The Sea of Black Tears? Kind of pointless to go there actually. It's been sealed for years. Hundreds of years in fact…"

"Well, it still looks interesting….how do you recommend we go about getting there?" Joseph said.

"Hmm. Well, head out of the mines, just follow the cart tracks, it leads out eventually through a gorge. Then turn west, there is a pretty clear road actually. Then just go down this big hill and you are there. When you're done wasting your time, there is a road that goes around the back of the mountain, up this winding ramp and into a graveyard. There is a tiny trail there that goes over the mountain pass back into the western area you come from."

A waitress came by and set two beers down in front of Joseph and Tom. They began drinking.

"Huh. So why do you people live here? Isn't it…gloomy? And maybe a bit dangerous?" Tom asked.

"Well, yeah, it's gloomy, but not dangerous. The Black Tears are sealed up. No one can drink them, so we don't have to worry about Tear Drinkers here, or any of those warped animals that come out of the Sea. We live here to export dry ice mainly. It's one of the most important things in the world."

They all talked for a bit longer before Joseph and Tom decided it was time to go. The lady said if they went along at a good pace, they could be at the Sea in about three hours. They couldn't believe it; maybe the land wasn't that big after all. They followed the cart tracks as she had instructed, made their way out of the gorge, and gotten onto the road. They had a couple breaks, but they made it to the Sea right about exactly when she said they would. The entrance was definitely sealed, with some kind of teeth or something; the mouth of the skeleton would have been the entrance.

Tom's eyes noticed something flash at him in the corner of his eye. There was something red lying next to the sealed entrance. He walked up to it. It was his guitar propped up against the wall. There was a note on it…

_You'll need it soon, good luck. I changed the strings, tuned it, and fixed the pick-ups up a bit. The time is coming, remember everything that's been told to you…_

As soon as he finished reading it, the words on the paper disappeared. He couldn't help but smile as he placed the refurbished guitar on his back. He turned around. Joseph was investigating the entrance closely.

"There must be a way to get in here…" He muttered. Tom silently agreed. There HAD to be way to get in there, and he HAD to find it. A lot depended on it.

They stood, looking at the wall a bit longer. Joseph muttered some things to himself Tom couldn't hear.

"I've got it." Joseph turned and looked at Tom. "I know how to get in."


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, I have one request of you readers. Please, if you decide to review this, do not put spoilers of what happen in the end, I have read reviews for stories before only to have the ending ruined for me. So yeah, feel free to review, just don't say what happens in the end. I hope you will enjoy the last few chapters of my story, yes, it is coming to an end. Again, I hope you enjoy the ending.**

***

Tom stared at Joseph.

"How?" Tom asked.

"I think I know how…I don't know if this will work…but here it goes…" Joseph said, almost unhappily. He withdrew his dagger and slowly drew it across his wrist, blood seeping out in thick droplets.

"NO!" Tom yelled, stepping forward to attempt to stop his friend. But it had already been done. Joseph laid his bloody wrist on the entrance. Sensing his self-mutilation, it opened up. The tunnel leading in was dark, but had a reddish glow to it. Joseph wrapped his wrist up with a handkerchief he had in his back pocket.

"It's fine…I've been hurt worse…you want to check this place out?" Joseph asked. Tom nodded, and the two set down the tunnel. Tom thought about this to himself. In the past, a demon had always opened up the Sea, and now all it took was a little self-sacrifice? This was getting weirder by the minute. The tunnel ended and they were now in a giant cavern. There were candles everywhere. The Sea of Black Tears were at the end, a broken bridge started to go across it. Tom and Joseph walked across the entire cavern, not saying a word. The got to the broken bridge, stood atop of it, stared out across the Sea.

"Wow…so this is it huh? It's amazing…see that cathedral?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah…it's eerie…let's go…" Tom said. He turned and walked back to the bottom of the bridge. Joseph didn't follow him. Tom turned back up and looked at him. Joseph was staring at him.

"It's…so Beautiful…" Joseph turned back to the Sea.

"Joseph…." Tom started to take steps back to his friend. All of a sudden, Joseph burst out. He threw his arms to the heaven and this is what he shouted,

"Ophelia! I am here! I am Joseph, your lover! I am here to be your husband! Oh Ophelia I have come for you! I followed your instructions! I will swim…..I will DRINK!"

"JOSEPH! NO!" Tom bolted up as fast as he could. It felt as though everything was in slow-motion. He saw Joseph, falling, his arms outstretched like an eagle, falling, falling. Tom got to the top of the bridge, looked down. Ripples fluttered around gracefully, eventually disappearing. Joseph was gone.

"No…Joseph….why, why?" Tom sat down, weeping into his hands. He couldn't save him…he was drowned. He still hadn't come up. He was dead. Tom got up and walked towards the exit, slowly. There was no purpose here. A finger tapped his shoulder. He spun around. It was Joseph. But his hair was blacker than ever, flowing like black silk off his head, and his skin was blue now. His clothes were tattered, striped, he wore boots now, his drum sticks were blackened, charred almost. His eyes had no soul.

"Joseph?" Tom asked. Joseph's lips turned into a sneer. He smacked Tom across the face, sending him to the ground.

"Joseph? What happened to you? I thought you drowned?"

Joseph laughed, the same sarcastic laugh Ophelia did.

"You thought I had died? You obviously know nothing about the Sea…one does not drown in it…one drinks from it….and receives power….unimaginable power…" Joseph smiled as he said this, clenching his fists.

"How did you know about this? How….how did you know about Ophelia?" Tom asked.

"Well, you don't think she only visited you, did you? No, she visited me the same day she did you. She told me of all the power I could have….how she and I would create an army to destroy humanity….humanity…humanity oh so evil and twisted. And me and Ophelia….perfect beings, powerful, and just..."

"You actually think Ophelia would let you rule with her? She is using you Joseph! Using you to open the Sea and now that you have, she's going to kill you too! I know, she's evil! She will betray you like she did Everyone else 200 years ago!" Tom shouted. Joseph frowned. He clenched his fingers together in front of him, as he did so, Tom rose up from the ground in an invisible choke hold. Joseph held him with his invisible grasp and looked deep into his eyes.

"You know, I thought I could have let you live. But you know what, Ophelia was right, you are just an annoyance. One that needs to be exterminated." Joseph threw Tom across the room, landing in a heap some 30 feet away. Joseph quickly summoned fifteen Tear Drinkers from the ground, who quickly set upon Tom with their shovels. Tom pulled out his sword.

He leapt into their mob with fury, slicing them open, occasionally using his guitar to fry them where they stood. Soon, all fifteen lay dead around him, their corpses smoking. Joseph walked over to Tom.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to deal with you myself." Joseph pulled his sticks out and jumped at Tom. The two exchanged hits, Tom's blade versus Joseph's drumsticks. Tom was getting tired. He kicked Joseph backwards to buy some resting time. Joseph smirked at him and pulled a snare drum out of nowhere, on a harness so it was in front of his chest.

He tapped his sticks on the drums extremely quickly, playing a drum solo on it. A blast of sonic energy blasted Tom back. Joseph advanced on him.

"The time is now for you to die, old friend." Joseph raised one of his sticks up, to plummet it down into Tom's chest.

_Use it when the time is right._

Ophelia's words echoed in Tom's head. He felt energy well up in his right arm. Without thinking he thrust his fist into the air with his pinky and forefinger extended. A blast of energy exploded from his outstretched devil-horns symbol. Joseph blasted head over heels backwards, landing ten feet away. Now it was Tom's turn to beat Joseph down. He got over Joseph, who was still winded and began punching him senseless with his fists. Black blood ran from Joseph's nose and mouth, thick and cold, spilling onto Tom's furious fists. He could see the face of the Drowned Ophelia in Joseph's eye. She looked scared. She also looked angry.

"No!" Joseph got a punch in on Tom, allowing him to push him off and stand up, retreat a few yards. Joseph wiped the blood from his mouth and face. He looked at Tom and smiled.

"This doesn't matter. This is a mere scuffle. Nothing can stop me and Ophelia now!" He flourished his hands and his Drum set appeared in front of him. He sat down on it and hit the bass drum. The force of it sent Tom backwards.

"You can't win Tom. The Tear Drinkers at the bottom of the sea will come to me when they hear my drum solo for them. And once I have an army, Ophelia will join me. And all you will be able to do is stand and WATCH!" Joseph shouted. He set the double bass beat and began his solo. A force field of sound waves formed around him. Tom couldn't get through it. Not by himself at least. But maybe, he could fight fire with fire…fight music with music. He pulled his guitar out and turned it up. Without thinking, he began playing. He started walking forward. It made it so he could walk through a bit easier, but he still strained to walk through the sound waves barrier. The closer he got to Joseph, the denser the waves got, and thus the more intense he played guitar to match and pass through. His fingers never stopped moving on the fretboard, if he stopped he would be torn out.

He gritted his teeth. His knuckles ached from shredding so hard. His pick was deteriorating from how fast he was strumming. Dust filled his eyes. Joseph seemed oblivious to him advancing on him, so involved in his drum solo. Tom was almost there…his eyes were swollen shut practically. With a shout, he kicked the bass drum front as hard as he could, shattering the drum head. The foundation for the solo was gone, the sound waves decreased tremendously. With another savage shout, he kicked and kicked the drums until finally he stood before Joseph and a destroyed drum set. Joseph looked up.

Surprisingly, he smiled.

"Good effort Tom. I'm afraid its too late though." Tom looked at the Sea. An army of at least 1000 varying types of tear drinkers stood on the shores. Joseph snapped his fingers and four reapers rode out from the army. They encircled Tom, raised their scythes, and then descended upon him. All four of them mercilessly hit him, each hit taking away some of his strength and willpower. Finally he was on his knees, his vision blurred, his body sliced many times over.

He looked up into the eyes of one of the reapers. Into the eyes of death…Tom blinked. Without thinking, he pulled his guitar onto his lap and, as best as he could remember it going played the solo Eddie had taught him. As he finished, everything was silent. Then, an echo of a familiar voice burst thought the room, at an earsplitting volume.

"I know that things are going wrong for me….You've got to listen to my words, YEAH-AHHHHH-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A figure burst out of the ceiling, from the heavens. The person was holding a guitar. They wore leather pants and a leather vest. They had long, somewhat wavy blond hair. They rocked. From their guitar came a solo so amazing and beautiful that all the Tear Drinkers melted under the light of the awesome face-melting solo. Tom was filled with new strength. He stood up, pulled his sword out. He walked up to Joseph, who stood memorized. He put one hand on his shoulder, and brought the other back, and then stabbed Joseph as hard as he could. He watched as the spirit of Ophelia shot out of Joseph's mortal wound, and back into the Sea. Joseph's hair and skin turned back to normal as he fell on the ground. Tom dropped his sword, and then fell down as well. His eyes closed and he passed out, listening to the closing of the song the man who has a god at guitar finished the song he had been playing….

_**Well that's the climax, if you were wondering, it was Randy Rhodes. And he was playing Crazy Train. I've had that ending in mind since I started this story, and I really hoped you liked it. Well, that was the Climax, if you want to know what happens to everyone after this, I will have an epilogue up within maybe a week. Thanks for all the support!**_


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